By REGINALD KANYANE
25 May 2025- The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape has urged the Northern Cape Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, to get provincial housing projects in order and to ensure real development of local contractors without compromising housing goals. The DA said in reply to their question during Thursday’s sitting of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature (NCPG), Saul acknowledged that the province cannot live up to the original promises made in the R1 billion housing project.
The DA Northern Cape Provincial Spokesperson for COGHSTA and Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL), Gizella Opperman, said when president Cyril Ramaphosa launched this project in January 2024, the Northern Cape was guaranteed 4 000 houses within 12 to 18 months. Opperman said Saul now admitted that the Northern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs already had to ask the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) for an extension of at least six months.
“The extension request is an all-too-familiar reminder of the infrastructure projects that are seldom finished on time or within budget when this government is involved, such as the seemingly abandoned Williston housing project.
“After Saul promised in February 2023 that 50 of the planned 150 houses would be ready for beneficiaries by November 2023, there’s still only five unfinished houses without roofs and one foundation,” said Opperman.
She further said, while Saul is quick to blame local contractors for lacking the capacity needed to fulfil the contractual terms set by COGHSTA, he is slow to accept that the provincial government makes it impossible for local companies to succeed. Opperman added that local SMMEs are denied the opportunity to gain the experience necessary to grow and expand their businesses, despite the presidential promise that local businesses would benefit from the R1 billion housing project.
“I’ve written to the Premier to request more detail on strategies that will be used to ensure that local contractor development takes place without compromising the quality and speed of the housing project.
“Terminating contractors without implementing real contractor development will not benefit the provincial economy in the medium or long term. I’ve also requested reports on the province’s discussion with DBSA and to probe the financial implications of the past sixteen months’ worth of delays,” said Opperman.
She said when the province was given permission in December 2023, to borrow R600 million from the DBSA for housing, the Premier told a Legislature sitting that interest costs are estimated at R92 million. Opperman said they cannot afford further escalations in the cost or time delays of this critical project.
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